Texarkana Man Arrested for Threatening Social Media Post

A local man arrested after social media post hints at school violence.

The Texarkana Texas Police Department arrested 24 year old Ricky Jared Rankin at his home Tuesday afternoon for Terroristic Threats.

Rankin allegedly made a post Monday night on his Instagram account that included a picture of an AR-15 assault rifle and the comment “I’m thinking about finally going back to school”. Upon seeing the post, people who know Rankin became concerned and notified the Texarkana Texas Police Department.

Detectives immediately initiated an investigation and obtained an arrest warrant for Rankin this morning. As a precautionary step, local school districts were notified of the threats and the ongoing investigation.

Officers and FBI agents arrested Rankin outside his home on Park Lane without incident and then served a search warrant of the property. The weapon in the post has not been located, but weapons belonging to other family members in the home have been secured.

Chief Dan Shiner said, “We don’t know if this post was meant as a joke or if he really planned to go to a school with a gun. However, our department takes comments like this very seriously and will take swift action to protect the children in our schools. No one wants the tragic events that we’ve all seen in other places to be repeated here.”

Rankin is currently being held in the Bi-State Jail. No bond has been set at this point.